Which Battery for the Cummins?

[smokeywolf]

New question within this topic.

Trickle chargers for battery maintenance.
Which one?

Straight to the battery posts.
To the accessory socket; if hot regardless of ignition on, off or otherwise.
Or, to the OBD II port.

 

[Rick]

If you buy a maintenance charger be very, very sure you get one that shuts off when the charge is complete. Not all of them do. If it doesn't you'll smell rotten eggs and buy new batteries and a new charger. Plugging them into the cig lighter socket always seemed like a gimmick to me, something made for TV advertising.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

OK, lots of stuff flying around here.

Popper - to address the diesels and batteries in series or parallel - Depends on the vehicle, they're not all the same. The Dodge diesels use two 12 volt batteries in parallel, so it's still a 12 volt system. Some big trucks use 2 big 6 volt batteries in series, so still 12 volts but they get there a different way. Some systems use multiple batteries.

I totally agree that you rent batteries and don't buy batteries but I would like to rent them for as long and as cheaply as possible

A lot of Emergency vehicles use two 12 volt batteries but have the ability to isolate them. So you can start on one and run on another or start on both, etc. Those systems typically use a large diode to isolate the batteries and have a single alternator but essentially two separate systems after the diode.

Rick - winter is not the killer of batteries but it often appears to be. Heat kills batteries but the damage often appears in cold weather hard starting conditions.
Picture a battery with a couple of weak cells in late August. The battery still puts out enough CCA to start an engine with warm oil in the late summer. Then when it gets colder, the output of the battery drops due to the lower temps and the engine is harder to spin due to the cold oil. It appears the cold "killed" the battery but the cold simply exposed the underlying problem.
People that live in cooler climates usually get more years out of batteries than people in consistently hot climates.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

New question within this topic.

Trickle chargers for battery maintenance.
Which one?

Straight to the battery posts.
To the accessory socket; if hot regardless of ignition on, off or otherwise.
Or, to the OBD II port.

I agree that trickle chargers should have some type of automatic shutoff when the battery reaches full charge.
The exception to that may be a small solar charger in the winter because the night time hours exceed the daylight and the temps are much lower.

As for where to connect that charger? I don't think I would charge via the OBD II port.
I think directly to the battery (but fused) is probably the cleanest installation.
I set up my truck with a dedicated accessory outlet that is wired directly to the battery with two fuses in the line. One fuse next the the port (lower value fuse) and a second higher value fuse right at the battery. That outlet is always live (not switched through the ignition) and is used for a charger.

Here's a good plug for low amperage charging:

They are used on BMW motorcycles and some farm machinery. Weather proof, easy to wire, easy to replace and strong.

 

[fiver]

when your truck don't start and the battery is covered in ice on the bottom and frost on the top, you probably popped a plate or two loose.
when that happens, it's a pretty good bet the 80-F max temps didn't burn out the battery.

 

[popper]

787 burned out 28 vdc APU Li-ion battery. ~4kW. Caused by short in cell 5 or 6. Fortunately this one just flamed out vs exploding. When as a kid I entered the battery backup hanger for SAGE. Rows & rows of 2x-bathtub size glass tubs of lead acid batteries. Someone (in prison now) shorted the 12vdc terminals of solid buss bar that vaporized! Lots of acid rain in the building. Normal power from 4 diesel gen.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

787 burned out 28 vdc AP Li-ion battery. ~4kWh.
View attachment 20056

I bet that's exciting at 30,000 feet.

 

[Ian]

Rick has it dead-on right about float chargers.

Can't ship a 2-oz cell phone battery by air because kaboom but some engineer said hey, li-ion be better than the APUs we've used to good effect since forever, it'll be great! What could possibly go wrong?

The only thing they got right on the Dreamliner was the no-bleed pressurization system.

 

[Bret4207]

when your truck don't start and the battery is covered in ice on the bottom and frost on the top, you probably popped a plate or two loose.
when that happens, it's a pretty good bet the 80-F max temps didn't burn out the battery.

People who don't live where it gets really cold for a really long time have no clue what it can do to everything from electronics to tempered steels to good old fashioned wood.

 

[fiver]

they probably never seen steel break from being hit with a hammer either.
it only has to be negative 20 for that to happen.

 

[Rick]

have no clue what it can do to everything from electronics to tempered steels to good old fashioned wood.

Or to me . . . .

 

[Rick]

they probably never seen steel break from being hit with a hammer either.
it only has to be negative 20 for that to happen.

Yep, easiest way to remove a padlock that ya have no keys for is spray a little Freon on it and pop it with a hammer. It shatters into little pieces.

 

[smokeywolf]

When it's damp and cold (sub freezing) we have a mini butane torch (same torch I use for silver-brazing broken eye glass frames) we have to use to thaw out the padlock on the front gate. Can't insert or turn the key without warming it up a bit first.

 

[Bret4207]

When it's damp and cold (sub freezing) we have a mini butane torch (same torch I use for silver-brazing broken eye glass frames) we have to use to thaw out the padlock on the front gate. Can't insert or turn the key without warming it up a bit first.

The way us northerners do it is to hold the lock between your palms for 30-45 seconds. Works at -45F based on personal experience. Not pleasant, but who carries a torch around?

 

[Rick]

That's what I do here with our brain cell destroying temps in the teens. Works great except it doesn't take 45 seconds. I have no clue what -45 is and have no desire to find out.

 

[RBHarter]

About -20 like +110 in the desert a little colder doesn't feel any colder/hotter , which is what makes it so dangerous .

 

[popper]

First test flight 787 somebody (it was reported) left papers on top of the APU/computer stuff that smoked. Li-ion electrolyte is flammable and when the Li gets hot, hydrogen is produced. As the Church lady on SNL says .....

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Boeing really pushed the technology envelope with the 787. That's not a first in history.
But history does show that these big leaps forward are sometimes a little too big.
The De Haviland Comet was the first commercial jet airliner and it had a deadly design flaw. We didn't run away from jet airliners but we did learn from those tragedies.
Engineers do their best, but anytime you make a big step forward, you run the risks of unforeseen problems.

The 787 uses some exciting new tech (lots of carbon fiber, LOTS of electrical systems, new engine tech). In their search for greater efficiency the engineers turned away from using bleed air for a lot functions (de-icing, cabin pressurization, heating of components) and they turned to electrical solutions for those needs.
Time will tell if that becomes the accepted method to handle those tasks or if the downside of using electricity outweighs the old methods.